The latest CD announced by Kritzerland is the first-ever release of Alfred Newman's score for the 1961 comedy THE PLEASURE OF HIS COMPANY, directed by George Seaton (Miracle on 34th Street, The Country Girl, Airport) and starring Fred Astaire, Debbie Reynolds and Lilli Palmer.

On November 5, Varese Sarabande will release music from the second season of PERSON OF INTEREST, composed by two-time Emmy nominee Ramin Djawadi, whose scores include Game of Thrones, Iron Man, Clash of the Titans, Pacific Rim and the upcoming Edge of Tomorrow (aka All You Need Is Kill).

Buysoundtrax has announced two new CDs -- the latest release of Elmer Bernstein's rousing symphonic score for the 1979 prequel ZULU DAWN (part of his score was featured in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds), and Alan Howarth's score for the thriller HOUSE AT THE END OF THE DRIVE, which should not be confused with the Jennifer Lawrence vehicle House of the End of the Street, though I'm sure the producers of End of the Drive would be happy for you to confuse them the next time you're ordering movies from Amazon.

September 13 - Leith Stevens born (1909)
September 13 - Maurice Jarre born (1924)
September 13 - Gene Page born (1939)
September 13 - Don Was was born (1952)
September 13 - Franz Waxman begins recording his score to Beloved Infidel (1959)
September 13 - Bernard Herrmann records his score for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "A Home Away from Home" (1963)
September 14 - Franz Waxman begins recording his score to Cimarron (1960)
September 14 - Sol Kaplan's score to the Star Trek episode "The Enemy Within" is recorded (1966)
September 15 - Gail Kubik born (1914)
September 15 - Recording sessions begin for Bronsislau Kaper's score for The Naked Spur (1952)
September 15 - Oliver Wallace died (1963)
September 15 - Don Ellis begins recording his score for The Deadly Tower (1975)
September 15 - Jerry Fielding begins recording his score for The Black Bird (1975)
September 15 - Ron Jones records his score for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Evolution" (1989)
September 16 - Alfred Newman begins recording his score to The Best of Everything (1959)
September 17 - Elmer Bernstein begins recording his score for Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1968)
September 17 - James Horner begins recording his score for Extreme Close-Up (1990)
September 18 - Dee Barton born (1937)
September 18 - A Streetcar Named Desire is released (1951)
September 18 - The Day the Earth Stood Still opens in New York (1951)
September 18 - Henry Mancini begins recording his score to Bachelor in Paradise (1961)
September 18 - Thomas Newman records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "Santa '85"(1985)
September 18 - Fred Steiner records his score for the Amazing Stories episode "Life on Death Row" (1986)
September 19 - Arthur Benjamin born (1893)
September 19 - Paul Williams born (1940)
September 19 - Vladimir Horunzhy born (1949)
September 19 - Daniel Lanois born (1951)
September 19 - Nile Rodgers born (1952)

"Exquisite beauty, as exemplified by Christophe Beaucarne’s pristine widescreen images and Christopher Gordon’s lush orchestrations, are apparently all the explanation or justification one needs."

Justin Chang, Variety

"The aptly named cinematographer Christophe Beaucarne brings a soft, warm glow to the ample displays of toned, gorgeously bronzed flesh, the idyllic setting and chic homes right out of a beach-living decor spread. And the lush orchestral score by Christopher Gordon and Antony Partos reflects the director’s earnest intentions. But basically, this is tasteful MILF porn."

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

CLOSED CIRCUIT - Joby Talbot

"John Crowley directs with a keen eye towards keeping the tension mounting, aided by wonderful music (Joby Talbot). I continue to believe that music is the number one most important aspect in making a thriller thrilling."

Tony Medley, Tolucan Times

"This is actually a timely and interesting take in Age of Terror jurisprudence (or lack thereof), but it's also complex and hard to dramatize, so director John Crowley bails, and instead takes up the by-the-numbers trappings of the contemporary surveillance-state thriller. And so we have a Bourne-ish collection of Big Brother footage, cut together to create a paranoid atmosphere, set to up-tempo jazz."

Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Daily News

"Though clearly influenced by American paranoid thrillers of the 1970s, 'Closed Circuit,' which is directed by John Crowley ('Boy A,' 'Intermission'), is a clunky creature. And no amount of split-screen devilry, meaningful cutaways to the Houses of Parliament or taut string scoring can paper over the cumulative improbabilities of the storyline. In Steve Knight's heavy-breathing script, no one gets to open his or her mouth unless it's to push the plot along or underline big themes of government malfeasance and injustice."

Ella Taylor, NPR

POPULAIRE - Rob, Emmanuel d'Orlando

"Blessed with stunning sets, colourful costumes and a fine piano score, 'Populaire' is a bright and breezy film that older audiences in particularly will appreciate."

Graham Young, Birmingham Mail

"It is hard not to like 'Populaire,' though the odds seem stacked against. A French romantic comedy about national and regional speed-typing contests? Styled like a 1950s quota quickie -- cheap-looking, cheery, with cheesy band music -- the story makes it through the obstacle course of early audience scepticism, then hits the home straight as a 'Pygmalion' or 'My Fair Lady'-style romance."

Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

"Devotees of '50s Hollywood comedies could have a great time at 'Populaire,' an intentionally lightweight ode to romance and, uh, typing. But the way to enjoy this French souffle is to concentrate on the scrupulously retro music, costumes and set design, not on the musty fairy-tale script. When he's not emulating 'Rocky,' the director pays homage to many midcentury filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and Vincente Minnelli. There's lots of period music, and Rob and Emmanuel d'Orlando's score echoes the spun-sugar style of such composers as Michel Legrand. Indeed, a Christmas scene in which Rose, Louis and his family break into song (and a dance) suggests that the whole movie might have worked better as a musical."

Mark Jenkins, NPR

"Using a bright pastel palette that brings Jacques Demy's 'Umbrellas of Cherbourg' to mind, and filled with sprightly music that might have come from a TV game show, 'Populaire''s general plot outline couldn't be more predictable, and that's the way it was planned."

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles TImes

"When things change to a rom-com template, things get slightly more rote, but in everything from film stock to (slightly overactive) score, 'Populaire' is a nice shift to another time."

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

"Alongside the many craft highlights is a buoyant score by Rob and Emmanuel d’Orlando ('Making Plans for Lena') and a soundtrack filled with French oldies by Jacqueline Boyer, Jack Ary and Les Chausettes Noires, whose frontman Eddy Mitchell makes a cameo as Louis’ despotic dad."

Jordan Mintzer, Hollywood Reporter

SALINGER - Lorne Balfe

"All of this is compelling. But Salerno, as if he's unsure of what he's got, goes to great lengths to heighten the drama with crisp editing, a strong score, frequent sound effects and snappy visuals."

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

"If you’ve seen the trailer for 'Salinger,' you may have been taken aback by the loud, pulse-pounding music, which seemed a little bit incongruous for a profile of a literary figure, but you assumed that was just to get people into theaters under the pretense of presenting a thriller. Unfortunately, that overkill of a score is in the film itself, too. It’s tempting to laugh in the opening minutes when a Newsweek photographer’s recounting of his trip to New Hampshire to get a photo of Salinger is accompanied by suspense music better suited for a bloated superhero movie. The orchestra is trying to tell us the world is at risk, when it’s just an anecdote about catching a guy coming out of the post office, for criminy’s sake. If only the eventual DVD would come with a 'no score' audio option, since that blaring music rarely lets up for two hours. But most of Salerno’s other choices are smart ones, including his decision to intercut ancient stories of Salinger’s school or war experiences with contemporary tales of acolytes and journalists trying to track him down as an old man. There’s no clear aesthetic reason for jumping back and forth between the ‘30s and ‘90s, but the director is undoubtedly correct in assuming that we don’t want to hear all about D-Day and teen girlfriends before getting to the good stuff, which is the puzzlement over why he ended up as pop culture’s quintessential weird old man."

Chris Willman, The Playlist

"Overpowering music underscores every 'dramatic' point, and an array of Very Famous People and Acknowledged Authorities are trotted out to articulate obvious and sometimes specious observations concerning literature, fame, the writing process and so on."

Glenn Kenny, MSN.com

"A short black-and-white clip of Salinger on V-E Day, accepting flowers from a crowd of smiling Parisians, is introduced with a breathless intertitle about 'never-before-seen footage,' then unspooled for the viewer in reverent silence. As overwrought as this presentation is, those few seconds of quiet serve as a welcome respite from the ubiquitous, histrionic music (by Lorne Balfe) that relentlessly pounds away at what Salinger’s preteen heroine Esmé would refer to as the viewer’s 'f-a-c-u-l-t-i-e-s.' When, in the last few minutes, the movie ramps up for its big reveal about the possible publication of new Salinger manuscripts, Balfe’s score reaches a volume and intensity that suggest the Glass and Caulfield family chronicles allegedly set to come out in the next few years will be less books than book-shaped explosive devices."

Dana Stevens, Slate.com

"Mr. Salerno, a dogged researcher and tireless interviewer, assembles his documentary material (supplemented by re-enactments and propelled by a throbbing, action-movie score) into a breathless story full of hyperbole and speculation. The resulting blend of reverence and character assassination is an almost perfect distillation of the modern pathology of fame. 'Salinger' offers up the bombshell revelation -- anonymously sourced and blasted onto the screen with the kind of music that usually accompanies the destruction of a planet -- that more novels are in store."

A.O. Scott, New York Times

"And one thing the director might certainly have jettisoned, in addition to a sometimes excitable score, are the needless dramatizations -- an actor on a stage, pounding at a typewriter, or a neglected child knocking fruitlessly on the door of Salinger’s work cabin."

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press

"Pushed along by a sometimes overbearing score, the movie repeatedly emphasizes the shroud of ambiguity that Salinger constructed around himself. Salerno's stylized indulgences don't shy away from overstating the dramatic nature of the story: His theatrical devices include repeated cutaways to a hand sketching caricatures of the author on white paper and reenactments of the agitated writer agonizing over his typewriter in front of a screen with projected images from his life."

Eric Kohn, INDIEWire

"Documentaries frequently open with a sort of teaser for what follows: short clips with a succession of talking heads previewing what they’ll elaborate on later, which taken together provide a sort of thesis statement for the film. Salinger has that too, but the film opens with Newsweek photographer Michael McDermott recalling -- and re-enacting -- a 1979 stakeout of a post office he did while trying to get a photo of notoriously publicity-averse author J.D. Salinger. On its own, the story amounts to 'I waited and waited, then I finally saw him for a few seconds,' but thanks to director Shane Salerno and an obnoxiously intrusive score, it sounds like something out of 'Mission: Impossible'. By comparison, Lalo Schifrin’s famous score would’ve sounded subtle. The montage of talking heads that follows may provide the film’s thesis, but McDermott’s scene reveals Salinger’s loud, frequently histrionic intent: Trivial, previously unseen footage of Salinger during World War II is treated like the missing audio from the Watergate tapes; snippets of reviews of 'The Catcher In The Rye' are scored as if they’re testimonials to the triumph of the human spirit; and when the film finally climaxes with its rumored big reveal, all that’s missing are fireworks."

Kyle Ryan, The Onion

"Salinger didn’t leave behind a rich catalog of 'The Dick Cavett Show' appearances or interviews, so director Shane Salerno resorts to the tricks of a second-rate tabloid show. His film augments the expected parade of talking heads with oppressive, manipulative music, rapid-fire editing, a cheesy reliance on stock footage, and most egregiously, shots of a lanky, cigarette-smoking man who vaguely resembles Salinger hunched over a typewriter on a raised stage, while images from Salinger’s life are projected onto a screen behind him. It’s a stylistic device that aspires to the overt, intense stylization of Errol Morris, but comes closer to 'A Current Affair.' For a film with a literary pedigree, Salinger feels cheap and vulgar: It’s a documentary about a writer’s life apparently intended for people who don’t read books or watch documentaries. Saying the film provides a CliffsNotes version of Salinger’s career would give it too much credit. It’s more like a cinematic flipbook that combines pretty, familiar images with achingly sentimental music. It is everything the Salinger of his books was not: predictable, cliched, banal, and worst of all, phony."

Nathan Rabin, The Dissolve

"Salinger was a genius of immaturity, stuck in 'a fantasy of innocence' in the words of Jean Miller, the 14-year-old he picked in Florida with the words 'How's Heathcliff?' when he saw what she was reading. 'Troubled,' she replies. What follows is the film at its most winsomely naïve: seaside strolls, violin swells and lines like 'he remained haunted by the love affair that never was'. Yeah, right. Until he has sex with them, at which point the girls turn into women and Salinger runs for the hills."

Tom Shone, The Guardian

"The film's most unsettling images are, at best, fan curiosities (like paparazzi photos of Salinger entering an SUV in his last years) and, at worst, dribs and drabs from an endless hedge maze of awful impressionist-reenactment footage, wherein a guy who looks more or less like Salinger (i.e. tall, white, dark-haired) is repeatedly shown chain-smoking and banging on a typewriter, scored to inevitable cascades of generic piano music. Salerno intersperses this memory-as-stage-play through the rest of the film, at one point featuring a little girl sitting sadly on the floor while the actor playing Salinger neglectfully chips away at his manuscript."

Steve Macfarlane, Slant Magazine

"You wonder why Salerno thought the man who created Holden Caulfield would be best served by an abundance of sentimentalism, a stock sap-tastic score and some genuinely cheesy dramatizations on a black stage (the director is no Hollywood phony, but still). Yet what emerges is still a thorough, detailed sketch of a mercurial genius who, per his own words, asked a lot of questions but never professed to have any answers."

David Fear, Time Out New York

"You know the way on 'C.S.I.' shows every bit of fuzzed-over security footage evidence must be 'enhanced,' hilariously, several times, until the detective spots the key clue? Ever thought that same dramatic technique, scored to stinging thriller strings, would be appropriate for presenting paparazzi photos of a sixtysomething author picking up his mail?"

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

"How could a documentary about J.D. Salinger (1919-2010), an icon of literature with a lifelong allergy to cliché, compromise,bombast and every type of fame-whoring bullshit, turn the author of 'The Catcher in the Rye' and classic short stories into everything he detested? Ask Shane Salerno, who spent nearly a decade researching his subject and compiling interviews with friends, lovers and literary lions, such as Tom Wolfe and Gore Vidal. Salerno, whose sins against cinema include writing 'Armageddon' for Michael Bay, also has a Salinger book coming out in tandemwith the movie. Make a note. And make sure you bring a barf bag when you watch this doc's tacky re-enactments, hear its cheeseball score and endure literary posturings so florid they'd embarrass the Baz Luhrmann of 'The Great Gatsby.'"

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Jumpy cuts are frequent, well-worn period stock footage is prevalent, and Lorne Balfe’s wildly inappropriate score is almost comically out of sync with the subject, full of Zimmerian sub-bass pulses and saccharine string swells."

Andrew Barker, Variety

A TEACHER - Brian McOmber

"Writer-director Hannah Fidell works in a style that’s arty but simple: naturalistic lighting, camera movement that always follows character movement, and a modernist score (by Brian McOmber, formerly of Dirty Projectors) that conveys dread without ever suggesting outright horror. Fidell’s use of choppy, Wong Kar Wai-style slow motion seems incongruous at first, but eventually becomes an effective expression of Burdge’s mental state -- time sputtering like a bad motor."

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The Onion

"But instead of probing the details of the characters' behaviors beyond merely noting the simple business of Diana's obsession and Eric's youthful arrogance, the director substitutes daft touches such as dimly ironic commentary (a clueless partygoer calls Diana the teacher that students 'would like to bang') and shorthand signifiers of obsession (Diana clicking repeatedly on Eric's Facebook photos while ominous drones and tom-drum rolls fill the soundtrack)."

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

"Even as Burdge conveys Diana's growing isolation, Fidell blurs the portrait, hinting at a troubled past and leaning on Brian McOmber's score to express the teacher's pain. However fine the cacaphonous music, when it's set against a narrative that generates no dramatic heat or rhythm, it feels like hyperbole."

Sheri Linden, Los Angeles Times

"'A Teacher'’s surface is placid and matter-of-fact, flecked with brief, intense moments in the bedroom -- and occasionally the car. But Brian McOmber’s demonstrative score suggests all the turmoil raging inside of Diana, moving from propulsive drums reminiscent of a dystopian sci-fi soundtrack to high-drama strings.

Tim Grierson, Paste Magazine

"A brief visit from Diana’s brother (Jonny Mars) vaguely alludes to family issues and psychological problems—he’s openly worried about her, despite knowing nothing of the hole she’s currently digging herself -- but the film wisely declines to elaborate. Instead, Fidell lets Burdge’s expressive face, with its sharp angles and penetrating gaze, convey the character’s inner turmoil, with unnecessary assists from Brian McOmber’s atonal score and a few hackneyed slow-motion interludes. Oh, and jogging. When in doubt, cut to Diana jogging toward the camera, as if desperately trying to outrun her failings."

Mike D’Angelo, The Dissolve

"Beyond the turmoil suggested by Brian McOmber’s score, it’s hard to say exactly what they’re feeling. The lovers don’t talk much, which not only frustrates the viewing experience but also lends a degree of irony to the title: Diana is never shown teaching Eric anything."

Peter Debruge, Variety

"Set to the cacophonous strains of Brian McOmber’s opening music, the first brooding shots of Diana (Burdge) jogging and then driving to work at her Texas school make it clear this is not a carefree young woman. Burdge’s performance progressively evolves into a tangle of raw, exposed nerves as she struggles to go cold turkey on Eric, with Sofi Marshall’s editing mirroring her agitated state and erratic behavior. McOmber’s chilly score also is used effectively."

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

WINNIE MANDELA - Laurent Eyquem

"While its depiction of rampant racism is effectively rendered, the film relies too heavily on overbearing, triumphant music, biopic cliches and repetition of personal mythology."

Claudia Puig, USA Today

"Based on Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob's biography, 'Winnie Mandela' opens with its subject’s humble birth, accompanied by syrupy music that would not be out of place in a story about the life of Jesus Christ."

Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post

"Hudson makes it easy to see why Mandela would find Winnie so attractive, while Laurent Eyquem’s score works overtime to ensure that even the sightless will feel the same way. (And that’s nothing compared to the 'Don’t Cry for Me, Johannesburg'-like 'Bleed for Love,' a Diane Warren-written anthem Hudson performs over the end credits.)"

Peter Debruge, Variety

"Working from a clunky screenplay he co-wrote with Andre Pieterse, adapted from Anne Marie du Preez Bezdrob’s biography, Roodt begins milking unearned emotions the minute the movie starts. A stick-fighter who can hold her own against the boys as well as recite Shakespeare, pre-teen Winnie (Unathi Kapela) is instantly established as a proto-feminist, insisting that women shouldn’t be restricted to cooking, cleaning and making babies. Cut to the pensive child contemplating the panoramic view from her Transkei Mountains birthplace, while Laurent Eyquem’s syrupy score froths up into the first of many heart-tugging surges."